'Hard to pull EU out of crisis without Turkey as full member'

The European Union would have difficulty pulling itself out of recession without Turkey's full membership, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Wednesday. Orban met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in capital Ankara to sign several agreements, including a deal on visa exemption. Orban says his visit marks the 90th anniversary of the treaty of amity between Turkey and Hungary. "Turkey sets a prime example for establishing national solidarity and pursuing big goals even in times of crises," Orban said at a joint press conference with Erdogan. "Turkey's full membership is in the interest of not only Hungary, but also the EU as a whole. "I don't think the economic crisis could be surmounted without Turkey's membership." Turkey's official statistics agency last week put out third quarter economic growth figures of 4.4% for the aspiring EU candidate, which stands in stark contrast to the uninspiring EU record of -0.4% for the same period. Prime Minister Erdogan said Turkey and Hungary plan to form a bilateral high-level cooperation council as a platform to further ties, and hope to raise the trade volume to 5 billion dollars in 2015 from nearly 2 billion as it stands. The states also plan collaboration on education and culture, he added. "I would like to express my gratitude to Hungary, which has always stood by us when it comes to EU and maintained its support," Erdogan said. The visa exemption currently works unilaterally, as Hungary is bound by EU rules regarding its visa policies. But Prime Minister Orban promised 'the highest level of flexibility' among EU states in issuing visas to Turkish businessmen, sportsmen and artists.